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Healthy Aging Tips for the Older Adults in Your Life If you have older family members or loved ones, you may worry about their health as they age. Aging increases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and dementia. The good news is that adopting and maintaining a few key behaviors can help older adults live longer, healthier lives. As a family member, it’s important to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors in your loved ones — it’s never too late to start! Healthy behavior changes can help older adults live more independently later in life. That’s important both for their quality of life and for yours. If a family member loses independence — whether it’s due to disability or chronic disease — you may find yourself in a caregiving role earlier than expected, which can affect family dynamics as well as finances. So what can you do to help the older adults in your life manage their health, live as independently as possible, and maintain quality of life as they age? Read on to learn about four ways to help support and promote healthy habits in your older loved ones’ lives. Prevent social isolation and loneliness As people age, they often find themselves spending more time alone. Poor health, the death of a partner, caring for a loved one, and other situations that are more likely as people age can all lead to being socially isolated or feeling lonely. Although they sound similar, social isolation and loneliness are different. Loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or separated, while social isolation is the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly. Increased social isolation and loneliness are associated with higher risks for health problems, such as depression; heart disease; and cognitive decline, which is a decrease in the ability to think, learn, and remember. As a family member, you can play an important role in helping the older adults in your life to stay socially connected. Here are some ways you can help: Schedule daily, weekly, or biweekly phone calls or video chats. Encourage them to seek out others with shared interests, such as through a garden club, volunteer organization, or walking group. Search the Eldercare Locator or call 800-677-1116. The Eldercare Locator is a nationwide service that connects older adults and their caregivers with trustworthy local support resources. Find additional tips to help your loved one stay socially connected. Promote physical activity There are lots of reasons to make physical activity a part of daily life. Exercise can help reduce levels of stress and anxiety, improve balance and lower risk of falls, enhance sleep, and decrease feelings of depression. Most importantly, people who exercise regularly not only live longer, but also may live better — meaning they enjoy more years of life with less pain or disability. On the other hand, lack of physical activity can lead to increased visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and increased risk of certain chronic conditions. Encouraging the older adults in your life to exercise may not be easy — it can be difficult to get someone to start a new activity — but the rewards are worth the effort. Following are some suggestions to help encourage exercise or other daily movement: Help your loved ones aim for a mix of activities, including aerobics, strength training, balance, and flexibility. This could include walking around the neighborhood, lifting weights, gardening, or stretching. Discuss how much activity is recommended and brainstorm ways to work it into their daily lives. Experts recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, and muscle-strengthening activities at least two days each week. Help them shop for appropriate clothing and equipment for their exercise activities. Remember, many activities don’t require expensive equipment. For example, they can use filled water bottles as weights for strength training or walk outside or at a mall rather than on a treadmill. Share your favorite activities that get you moving. Are there any you could do together? If so, that’s a bonus because you’re not only helping promote physical activity but also helping to prevent loneliness and social isolation. Learn more about the different types of exercises and find examples to help get started. Encourage healthy eating Healthy eating is an important part of healthy aging. As with exercise, eating well is not just about weight. Having a healthy diet can help support muscles and strengthen bones, which can help with balance and independence. A nutritious diet involving a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins also can help boost immunity and lower the risk of certain health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers. While it can be meaningful to share meals based on traditional family recipes, in some cases, those favorite dishes can be loaded with unhealthy fats and sugars. Changing long-held habits can be tough, but before you know it, there may be some new favorite foods on the table! Consider these tips to help incorporate a healthy diet in your loved ones’ routines: Take them on a trip to the grocery store and pick out healthy options. Discuss their favorite traditional recipes and talk about whether you can make them healthier; for example, by substituting olive oil for butter, or yogurt for sour cream. Visit them once a week and make a healthy meal together. Consider cooking extra and packaging leftovers so they have individual servings to enjoy later in the week. Look inside their fridge and pantry when you visit. You can check for healthy options, and also ensure they aren’t eating expired food or drinks. Encourage them to talk with their doctor or pharmacist about their diet and any vitamin and mineral supplements they may need. Learn more about healthy eating patterns and ways to create a nutritious meal plan. Schedule regular check-ups with a doctor It’s important for your older loved ones to have regular health exams and medical screenings. Visit MedlinePlus to learn about health screenings for women and men. Checking in with doctors annually, and possibly more often, depending on overall health, may help reduce risk factors for disease such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Regular check-ups can also help catch concerns early and improve the chances for effective treatment. Some people visit their doctors routinely, while others avoid these types of appointments at all costs. Here are some ways to support your family members’ visits with health care providers: Encourage them to reach out to their doctor immediately if they’re experiencing pain or any new symptoms. Ask about their upcoming visits to doctors, including any specialists. Do they have the appropriate appointments scheduled and marked on a calendar? Do they need any help scheduling appointments? Offer to drive them to the appointment, or even go with them and take notes. Ask about communication with their health care providers. Are the doctors responsive to their questions? Help them manage medications if needed. Make sure they maintain a current list of their medications, including both prescription and over-the-counter medications and any supplements, and are sharing this list with their health care providers. Ask your older family member if they’d feel comfortable allowing you or another family member access to their medical records and permission to talk with their doctors. This could help them stay on top of their appointments and medications. Find tips to help prepare for a doctor’s appointment. Behavior changes can be difficult and take time. If you’re committed to helping your older loved ones adopt healthier lifestyles, try to be patient. If something isn’t working right away, stick with it or try a different approach. Your support and encouragement can make a difference! You may also be interested in Learning about healthy meal planning Exploring vitamins and minerals for older adults Finding tips for getting a good night's sleep Want weekly healthy aging tips? Enter your email address to get weekly emails from NIA. Email Address For more information NIA Information Resource Center 800-222-2225niaic@nia.nih.govwww.nia.nih.gov NIA Alzheimer’s and related Dementias Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center 800-438-4380adear@nia.nih.govwww.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers The NIA ADEAR Center offers information and free print publications about Alzheimer’s and related dementias for families, caregivers, and health professionals. ADEAR Center staff answer telephone, email, and written requests and make referrals to local and national resources. Eldercare Locator 800-677-1116eldercarelocator@n4a.org https://eldercare.acl.gov This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date. Content reviewed: June 13, 2022

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Early signs of dementia It’s not easy to spot the early signs of dementia in someone we are caring for. If a person is struggling to remember a name, follow a conversation or recall what they did yesterday, many of us may put it down to the fact that the person is getting older. But it may well be a warning that they are in the early stages of dementia. Family, friends and care workers are likely to be the first to see the signs and play a key role in encouraging a person receiving care to see a GP. Because I was with my wife continuously, I think I was less likely to recognise some of the changes that were taking place than people who saw her less regularly. A carer speaking about his wife’s early signs of dementia, healthtalk website A doctor can help establish whether a person has dementia – or a treatable illness or condition that can cause dementia-like symptoms, such as depression, a urinary infection or nutritional disorders. What are the signs of dementia? Memory problems Decline in communication skills Recognition and coordination difficulties Disorientation Changes in behaviour, judgement and moods Loss of daily life skills Are early signs of dementia obvious? Changes in a person in the early stages of dementia can be so gradual they can often be mistaken for normal ageing. Because dementia affects people in different ways, symptoms may not always be obvious. In fact, failure to recognise early signs often leads to people not being diagnosed for several years. So what to look for? Perhaps someone you care for is struggling to remember what they did yesterday and forgets the names of friends or everyday objects. They may have difficulty following conversations or TV programmes, repeat things over and over, or have problems thinking or reasoning. They may feel angry, anxious or depressed about memory loss or feel confused even in a familiar environment. The healthtalk website presents a range of carers’ experiences of identifying the early signs of dementia. One carer put it this way. The first stage is not recognisable I think, or certainly wasn’t recognisable as far as I was concerned initially (mainly the behavioural changes that were taking place). I was certainly not understanding... the fact that my wife was at the beginning of a serious problem, a serious mental health problem. Because I was with my wife continuously, I think I was less likely to recognise some of the changes that were taking place than people who saw her less regularly. Since 2008, the Alzheimer’s Society has run an important campaign, called Worried about your memory?. It aims to raise awareness about dementia and encourage people who are worried about their memory to seek help from their GP. The campaign comes with a leaflet, translated into 13 languages, giving examples of early signs of dementia and a video promoting the need to recognise early signs and take action. Memory problems Losing house or car keys, forgetting a name or where you have put the passport is something that happens to all of us at one time or another. Our memory can become less reliable as we get older or be temporarily affected by the stresses and strains of everyday life, depression, anxiety, poor health and the side-effects of some medications. When someone has a declining short-term memory that begins to have an impact on their work, social and home life, it may be an early sign of dementia. They may not just lose things (such as keys or remote controls) or misplace them in odd places, they may forget what they are for. They may forget to do simple household jobs or go to the shops and forget what they want to buy. They may have difficulty remembering something they have just read or seen on the TV, in recognising familiar faces (such as the Prime Minister) or recalling recent events. However, they may be able to recall in detail things that happened many years ago. Common early signs View the full video Decline in communication skills If someone is struggling to follow or join a conversation, repeats questions, words and phrases and has difficulty saying or finding the rights words, they may be showing early signs of dementia. A person may experience difficulties understanding what is being said, they may appear vague or have a puzzled expression, or just nod in response rather than reply. They may lose their way in the middle of a sentence and struggle to describe a recent event, television programme or meeting. They may use the wrong words or pronounce them incorrectly, have difficulty describing a particular object (for example, referring to the sun as a ‘shiny red ball in the sky’) and find it hard to understand jokes or pick up on subtle or hidden meanings. This carer explains what she noticed about changes in her husband’s speech – an early sign of his dementia: His speech also became very, less clear. He’d always been a very clear and decisive speaker using the right words and syntax and everything. He stumbled for a word – a perfectly normal word, nothing peculiar – and was not able to grasp what had been said to him very quickly. And after about a year I thought maybe he’d had a slight stroke. (healthtalk website) We live in a multicultural society with a rich mix of people from different backgrounds and cultures where English is often not their first language. Care workers also have to consider that a person with early signs of dementia may revert to language from their cultural roots as their communication abilities decline. It is important that people with dementia and their families are provided with information in their preferred language. Recognition and coordination difficulties A person showing early signs of dementia may put everyday things in unusual places (for example, a loaf of bread in the washing machine, money in the oven, or washing-up liquid in the fridge). They may have difficulty recognising familiar items such as a chair, soap, toothbrush, cutlery, kettle, coffee jar, cooker or fridge. Signs of a loss of coordination skills can include struggling to undo or do up buttons, to tie or untie shoes and neckties, and to use a hair brush or razor. They may be more subtle, such as putting down a cup of tea too close to the edge of a table or having difficulties lifting a teapot or kettle or using a knife to cut vegetables or fruit. Disorientation Getting lost when driving or walking in familiar areas and not being able to recall the date, day of the week or time may be early signs of dementia. Confusing day and night (say by sleeping during the day and staying awake most of the night), not knowing the season or year and getting ready for a social event or appointment on the wrong day are indications of time disorientation. Someone who becomes lost or confused in their own home (perhaps they start looking for the fridge or kettle in the bedroom or bathroom), has difficulties in remembering how to get to a friend’s home, or who struggles to find their way around familiar shops, offices or other buildings is showing signs of place disorientation. Changes in behaviour, judgement and moods Becoming quiet, withdrawn or restless – or frustrated or angry – can be early signs of dementia. Someone may develop repetitive behaviour – for example, they ask the same question over and over again, do the same thing repeatedly or make multiple phone calls to the same person. They may become insecure and anxious or start hiding and losing items. They may withdraw from social activities or give up hobbies and interests they have enjoyed. They may show poor judgement, for example putting summer clothes on in cold winter months, not knowing when a kettle is full or overfilling cups when making cold and hot drinks, putting a kettle on the hob or leaving a cooker on or tap running. Someone with dementia may become very emotional and experience rapid mood swings – or become quieter and less emotional than usual. Loss of daily life skills A home that may not be as well kept as usual (perhaps not cleaned, with out of date food in the fridge, or with a garden looking untidy) may be a sign that the person living there has dementia. They may lose the ability to do many of the things they normally do themselves, such as preparing meals, household chores and eating and drinking properly. They may also struggle to maintain their personal hygiene (from washing and bathing to cleaning their teeth) and getting dressed. Deciding what to wear, how to put things on and in the right order may become increasingly difficult. Getting around the house without walking into furniture and other items (a lack of spatial awareness) may also be a problem. Download All SCIE resources are free to download, however to access the following download you will need a free MySCIE account:Register nowLog into your accountAvailable downloads:What the research says: Early signs and diagnosis Further reading Open Alzheimer's Disease International, 'Early symptoms'. Online information. Alzheimer's Society (2011) 'The progression of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias'. Factsheet 458. London: Alzheimer's Society. Alzheimer's Society: 'Worried about your memory?' campaign. Healthtalk website: This website contains stories from 31 carers of people with dementia, some presented in videos, some in audio recordings. The stories cover a wide range of areas, including recognising the early signs of dementia and getting a diagnosis. The stories were recorded as part of research into patient experiences led by experts at the University of Oxford. NHS Choices website: 'Living with dementia' video: This features two carers describing the process leading up to and including diagnosis, and Professor Sube Banerjee explaining the importance of getting an early diagnosis. Useful links Open Alzheimer’s Society The Alzheimer’s Society produces over 80 factsheets on all sorts of topics related to dementia, including many that relate to early signs and diagnosis, including Risk factors for dementia (450), Assessment and diagnosis (426), After a diagnosis (471), and The progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (458). healthtalk The healthtalk website contains stories from 31 carers of people with dementia, some presented in videos, some in audio recordings. The stories cover a wide range of areas, including recognising the early signs of dementia and getting the diagnosis. NHS Choices NHS Choices describes itself as the ‘online front door to the NHS’. It is the UK’s biggest health website and includes an A–Z of health conditions, including dementia, as well as explaining about treatments and how the health system works. The Dementia Guide on this site includes a section on Getting a dementia diagnosis, Benefits of early dementia diagnosis, and What to do if you’ve just been diagnosed with dementia. Unlocking diagnosis: The key to improving the lives of people with dementia. This All-Party Parliamentary Group of Dementia publication reports on the APPG’s 2012 inquiry into differing diagnosis rates – and the barriers for lifting these – around the UK. World Alzheimer Report 2011: The benefits of early diagnosis and intervention The Alzheimer’s Disease International 2011 report investigated the benefits and disadvantages of early diagnosis and intervention for people with dementia, the implications of early diagnosis for health and social care costs, and best practice in early intervention around the world. Related pages from this section Open Early signs and diagnosis of dementia Early signs of dementia Dementia risk factors What else could it be? Causes of dementia (video) Why early diagnosis is important Early diagnosis and drug treatment (video) Getting a diagnosis Diagnosis when someone has sensory loss SHARE: Part of: Dementia Last updated: October 2020

5 Tips to Help You Stay Motivated to Exercise Physical activity is a great way to boost your health and your mood. As you age, staying active can also help you continue doing the things you enjoy. Learn ways to make exercise fun and stay motivated. To share the image, right-click on it and select "save image as" to save the file to your computer. We encourage you to use the hashtag #NIAHealth in your social media posts to connect with people and organizations with similar goals. You may also be interested in Learning more about staying motivated to exercise Using exercise and physical activity tracking tools Exploring fun ways for older adults to stay active Read a transcript of the infographic

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